Hello. My name is Erick and I'm a Twitterer

A few weeks ago I started using Twitter.  Every day.  Two or three 'tweets' a day.  I decided to write about my Twitter usage in my blog.

I got my Twitter account in 2009.  Twitter started in 2006.  It seems a lot longer, doesn't?  It feels like it's been around forever now.

After my first two tweets the day I opened my account (About the universe I created and doing laundry) I stopped using it.  I didn't get it.

There has been a lot of news about Twitter this year.  It was prominent in the coverage of the Middle Eastern uprisings and the tsunami.

It was after the story about 'GenkiTweets' that I decided to check it out again.  They are the translated tweets sent by tsunami survivors.

I was struck by the poignancy of the messages.  By using kanji, there was a huge volume of information in the tweets.  http://bit.ly/fr7qlo

So, I went back to my account and started tweeting.  My first new tweet, 3rd overall, was something like, "I'm up, I'm up.  Time to write."

It was sort of weird at first.  Writing something like that to no one in particular at 5 AM.  The electronic version of messages in bottles.

Three things combined to make it something I had to do each day.  The first: Having its use as a study tool for Japanese pointed out to me.

It's much less daunting to read a tweet than a book, article or even a manga in Japanese.  Also, I could practice writing Japanese as well.

My favorite Japanese tweet so far was one in a series where a young lady was tweeting the events in a baseball game.  Here's the last one:

松中空振り三振・・・orz 2アウト満塁のチャンスがぁぁぁぁ

"Matsunaga, swing & a miss, Three Strikes.  Our two outs, bases loaded Chaaaaaance."  'Orz' is an emoticon for being on one's hands & knees.

Second: I realized that I could repost my tweets to my Facebook page.  Having something I write read by someone, even a tweet, is important.

The third thing was 'finding my twitter voice.'  It was the realization that the odd observations I make to people daily were tweet sized.

One time a young lady at work wanted someone to kill an already dead wasp stuck in the grill over her desk.  'Zombie wasps' came to mind.

I have a couple of 'tweet series' going on.  One is "My Life's Goal" and the other is "I believe."  They're strange & silly, but truthful.

My tweets are inspired by the comedy routines of Steven Wright and the Deep Thoughts of Jack Handey.  Also Kurt Vonnegut's writings.

I also write about what I'm doing writing wise.  I think of these tweets as little reports to an imaginary boss, to show I'm working.

It still feels a lot like I'm stranded on some island in the middle of nowhere.  But at least now the bottles have something in them.

If you're wondering about the structure of this blog post, I decided to make each paragraph 140 characters (or so) long.  Tweet sized.   

Guess that's it.  My twitter account is @ErickMelton, in case anyone out there wants to follow, retweet, reply and all that stuff.  End. 


News & Updates
I received a message about my comic, SoftMetal, from my publisher.  They are thinking about turning it into a graphic novel.  More news about that as I get it.  You can still order a copy of issue #01 on line by clicking HERE.  If you get a copy and meet me in person, I'll autograph it for you.